Kilmarnock V Inverness CT at Rugby Park : Match Preview

24 January 2014 07:01

Kilmarnock have confirmed the capture of Brighton defender Vitalijs Maksimenko in time for Saturday's clash with Inverness.

The 23-year-old Latvian international has signed on loan until the end of the season.

Capped nine times for his country, the Seagulls defender has mustered just two appearances for the Sky Bet Championship outfit this season but hopes to make his first club outing since August at Rugby Park when Caley Thistle visit.

Killie posted the following message on their official Twitter account: "We can confirm that 23-year-old Brighton & Hove Albion defender Vitalijs Maksimenko has joined on loan until the end of the season."

Meanwhile, striker William Gros believes Alexei Eremenko would be a massive signing for the Ayrshire club.

The Finland international is expected to take in the Scottish Premiership clash with the Highlanders as manager Allan Johnston bids to bring him back to Rugby Park.

The 30-year-old playmaker made a huge impression when he spent the 2010-11 season on loan at Kilmarnock and is now a free agent following a spell in Kazakhstan.

Gros said: "I would like to see him back because the first year I played with him and he's a really, really good player.

"He is one of the best players I have played with. You know if you run, the ball will come to your feet.

"If he comes back then it would be a big, big, key thing for us."

While the Maksimenko deal has been tied up and Eremenko is close to a return, boss Johnston admits he could be powerless to stop Kris Boyd leaving this month.

Boyd, who has scored 12 goals this season, has been linked with a move to Blackpool to rejoin former Rangers team-mate Barry Ferguson, the Seasider's new caretaker manager.

And Gros said: "Boydy would be a big loss. He is one of the best strikers about.

"I have learned a lot from him. Sometimes it's not big stuff but things that can change a game.

"It's about movement, touches, just details that people might think is easy but you can learn from a guy like that."

Inverness boss John Hughes believes he has recruited a skilled football tactician in the shape of Russell Latapy, who joined the club as assistant manager on Friday.

The former Trinidad and Tobago midfielder and manager, who also played for Dundee United, Hibernian and Rangers, was part of Hughes' side when he was in charge at Falkirk, where he also worked as a coaching assistant.

They were also team-mates at Easter Road and will team up again after Latapy, 45, was released at his own request from his coaching role at Portuguese club Boavista.

Latapy has signed a two-and-a-half-year contract with Caley ahead of their trip to Kilmarnock in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday.

Hughes told the club's YouTube channel: "He is a lovely lad, a very humble boy and he will fit right in here.

"There are no airs or graces, he would give you the last penny in his pocket.

"In term of football knowledge, he is a tactician.

"He knows the game like the back of his hand and wants to see the game played in a certain manner which suits my style, the philosophy of pass and move, one and two touch, short sharp passing.

"If I was a young player, a technical player, if they do not get close to him and try to learn from him then they are doing themselves an injustice.

"He is a very approachable guy and a right good coach.

"The dressing room will take to him because he will be in there mixing with the boys so I am looking forward to him coming in.

"I have updated him to where we are as a team and it is about getting that blend.

"But I keep saying this, we can never get away from the fundamental values that Terry Butcher put in here; spirit, hard work and siege mentality."